YOU'RE LIVING FOR A REASON

In my opinion, one of the best movies of 2015 was Straight Outta Compton. I was a fan of the movie even before it was filmed. I'm a huge fan of good biopics and documentaries. If you're into good biopics, I suggest Straight Outta Compton. It's not the cleanest movie in the world, but when the movie is about a group called N.W.A., Niggaz Wit Attitudes, you can't expect a G rated picture.

Anyway, I bring up this movie because at the end, Eazy E, spoilers, ends up in the hospital. I've watched this movie a lot and that scene has never got to me, but for some reason it got to me the last time I watched it. I started thinking about the two stints I spent in the hospital. Now, I'm not comparing my stint to Eazy's because he was dealing with HIV, and I was dealing with Congestive Heart Failure. But in the movie, Eazy had visitors coming in crying to see him in his condition. Immediately, I was taken back to my sister's face when I was in ER. She was crying. I felt myself getting emotional while at the same time thinking, "I've watched this movie all these times, and it's just now getting to me? Why now?" 

When the tears started to flow was when they showed Eazy in an AIDS-induced coma, again spoilers, and was only breathing because of a breathing machine. Again I was taking back to my stint in the hospital. I wasn't on a breathing machine, but I had an oxygen gimmick up my nose, and I got the best sleep I had gotten in months before that. That was it. I usually try to fight the tears before they fall, but I just let them fall. I usually don't cry at movies or TV Shows. I really don't. But for some reason, that darn Straight Outta Compton--

Both instances of the hospital could have been the end for me, and yet here I am typing this blog. Takes me back to when my Pastor's wife at the time passed away. When I went to the home going, I was not too long out the hospital, and sitting there messed me up because I realized that it easily could've been my home going as well. That was exact same emotion I felt watching that scene in Straight Outta Compton. It reminded me not to take this life for granted. Which I admit I have been. I take it for granted sometimes that I'm breathing. I take it for granted that I can now lay flat on my back at night without feeling like I'm drowning. I take it for granted that I actually get sleep at night now. 

God has been too good for you to just live and do anything you want. He gave you this life for a reason. You're breathing for a reason. You're living for a reason. This verse gets thrown around and gets used as a cliche now. But this verse took on a new meaning for me. Psalm 150:6, "Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD"

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

WHERE THERE IS HELP, THERE SHOULD ALSO BE GROWTH

Psalm 121:1-2 "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

I was sitting in bible study, and the discussion was on Jesus being the resurrection and the life. Based on the John 11:25, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:" The discussion was also talking about "I am." All I kept hearing is "help." I started thinking back when I played C-Team football for Eastside High School, when I was in the 8th grade. I wasn't athletic at all. To be honest I really didn't want to be there. I was just coasting the whole time. Anyway there was a part of practice that was called conditioning, and it mostly evolved a lot of running. I wasn't the fastest runner in the world, so sometimes my teammates would help me out by pulling my shoulder pad. They helped me out so that I became dependent. When they didn't help me I thought, I couldn't do it without their help. So I would ask, "Who's going to help me?" I didn't have the confidence in my ability to even try to do it on my own because I became dependent. I probably could have done it without help, but I didn't think or believe that I could. Then this came to me, "Where there is help, there should also be growth." I became so dependent on the help that I didn't learn from it.

Like in school when the teacher gives you an assignment, and you need help with something. The teacher may help you with that question once or twice, but they expect you to learn through the help and sooner or later get it on your own. So the teacher helps you so you can grow in knowledge to sooner or later do it yourself. When the teacher doesn't help, how do you feel? You feel like no one cares, right? You feel helpless. Now teachers get tired sometimes. They sometimes get to the point where they don't feel like helping. They'd rather sit at the desk and do other things other than helping you with what you need help on. How many of you are glad that God is not like man?

God will help you through anything, if you let him. First you got to want the help. You got to let go and let God. God won't infringe on your freewill. You can say, "Jesus take the wheel" but if your hands is also on the wheel, what's the purpose? When in school if you got a question or you need help, you raise your hand, right? Maybe if some of us lifted up our hands in surrender, we'd be closer to getting the help we need. Second you got to open up your mouth and ask for help. A closed mouth don't get fed. You don't ask for help in class when you needed, you are likely to fail that class right? So naturally so spiritually. You ask God for help, he'll help you. Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help.

I knew I needed help with getting buying groceries. So when I finally filled out an application to get an EBT card, I got the help I needed. If I had not gone to DSS and filled out an application, I'd have no one to blame but me. Sometimes the answer is right in front of our faces, we just got to get up and move. Nobody is going to force you to move. If you can still make your mouth move to form words, you have all you need to ask for help and grow in knowledge.

Some people are dumb because they choose to be. Some people refuse help. And they got to live with that. But Jesus is standing there ready to take you by the hand and lead you in the right direction. Don't feel bad for asking for help. We talked in bible study that it's a shepherd's job to help because sheep are dumb animals. Jesus is the good shepherd right? Let him lead you.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

RECYCLING IS IMPORTANT BUT ALSO CAN BE A BURDEN

It's a new year. 2016. There's a lot that I could say about how I entered this year. A lot of stuff I have a problem with, which I will not air out here. But here's what I will say....

I posted this on Facebook before I went to sleep, "Let's stop recycling things that should have been thrown away." I looked up what recycling means for the effect, cause I know what recycling means, don't get me wrong...anyway, "convert waste into reusable material", is the definition I found via google. Convert waste into reusable material. Think about it. Converting waste or trash. Stuff that should be in the dump. Us. We should have been in the grave. We should have been dead and gone. We were waste. Until God did some recycling and made us new. As it's said, "tried in the fire but came out gold."

But some waste has no need of being recycled. Old habits. Bad relationships. Hidden agendas. We need to recycle. Recycling is important, but in some ways it can be a burden. Some people you know are not going to do you right. You know they're going to use you. You know some people continue to take your kindness for weakness. And then you go into a new year and say, "No longer will I be used. I'm a new me. I'm a new (insert name here)" Then you come to the same problems you had for years because why? You do the same things that got you in to the trouble to begin with. You recycle the trash you threw away into new issues and new problems for the new year. 

Proverbs 26;11 says, "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." Stop going into the new year being the same fool. Stop recycling the same crap that you dealt with before. If you went through it before, you should be able to see the signs of the same stuff about to happened. Like let's say I'm going to church. I know the way I go to church. I go the same way every time. If I continue to go the same way, I will get to the same destination. The way you choose to go will determine your destinations. Let me say this, taking detours does not count as going in a different direction if you're going to end up at the same destination.

Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." How Sway?

Ephesians 6:10-18, "

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

Happy New Year.

Stay Saved in 2016,

Daniel Richerson